They're safe,'' he said. "And you're not made of glass". He swept me up in his arms. I laughed. "And I'm not made of glass." He carried me into our room and kicked the door shut behind us.

Finally someone takes me seriously enough to ask for my word of honor, and it’s a villain.

One doesn't lose a self, like a pair of gloves or a pine. We learn and change, or we harden into stone.

No, I don't think I could fall in love with him, handsome though he is, because I don't accept any of that huff he gives me about my great beauty and all that. I'd have to trust a man's words before I could love him. I think.

Despite how entertaining certain stories were, at the bottom of every item of gossip there was someone getting hurt.

Except. What is normal at any given time? We change just as the seasons change, and each spring brings new growth. So nothing is ever quite the same.

When people first discover beauty, they tend to linger. Even if they don’t at first recognize it for what it is.